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Eastern Shore Land Conservancy Tag

June 22, 2017

Kent County Middle School students complete Chesapeake Bay Watershed project

To clean up the Chesapeake Bay Watershed, the 6th, 7th and 8th grade students of Kent County Middle School have been working on a watershed improvement project. With the guidance of Eastern Shore Land Conservancy staff at the Sassafras Environmental Education Center (SEEC), the 8th grade students identified schoolyard problems that contribute to issues in the Bay. They noticed problems with animal waste, trash and standing water on the school grounds. They added waste baskets and recycling bins along their track, as well as a pet waste station. Students designed signage notifying individuals that they have installed waste baskets as well as recycling bins, and encouraging them to clean up after their pets. Students also planted a 12 native shrubs and perennials along the fence below the tennis courts, where the ground is often wet from water running off of the courts and parking lot. Work began on May 26th, and you are openly invited to come and get some exercise on the exercise stations, or take your dog with you! As part of the project, students directed almost all aspects of the project, including the writing of this press release! (Written by: Alexander Sipes, Joshua Unkle, and Shania Wolfe.) For more information about SEEC, please contact Education Program Manager Jaime Belanger at jbelanger@eslc.org or 410.348.5214. SEEC is staffed by the Eastern Shore Land Conservancy and headquartered at Turners Creek in Kennedyville, MD on land owned by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources.

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June 8, 2017

460 Acres in Cecil County Preserved; Will Become Bohemia River State Park

June 7, 2017 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 460 Acres in Cecil County Preserved; Will Become Bohemia River State Park The Eastern Shore Land Conservancy (ESLC), in partnership with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR), is preserving 460 acres in Cecil County for the future development of a new state park. The Board of Public Works unanimously approved the acquisition this morning. The new water-access site, located near Chesapeake City, will eventually be called Bohemia River State Park and will complement existing Maryland Park Service properties in the area – Elk Neck, Fair Hill, and Sassafras. This is a big win for land conservation on the Eastern Shore, and more specifically, Cecil County. “Over the course of the past 27 years, ESLC has been involved with literally thousands of Eastern Shore farms. OBX Farms is truly one of the most beautiful we’ve ever assisted in preserving!” said ESLC Executive Director Rob Etgen. “This purchase will keep the land open, free from future development, and most exciting of all, available to the public for generations to come. ESLC is incredibly proud to play a role in this important legacy.” The acquisition of OBX Farms was fully funded by Program Open Space, which preserves natural areas for public recreation, and watershed and wildlife protection across Maryland. In addition to existing agricultural land that will most likely continue being farmed, approximately 14,000 feet of riverfront property will now be available to the public for kayakers, standup paddle-boarders, canoers, and other activities. The property’s rich network of riparian forests and tidal and non-tidal wetlands will provide for habitat restoration and water quality benefits. Once the acquisition is complete (projected Fall 2017), the department will develop an interim public access plan for the property, which will enable visitors to enjoy passive, nature-based activities until a master plan can be developed. Public access

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June 1, 2017

Executive McCarthy ignores county plan

(Op-Ed from Cecil Whig - May 31, 2017) From: Jill E. Burke, Elkton We are responding to County Executive McCarthy’s article in the Whig (March 16), and his response (April 28) to an opinion piece in the Baltimore Sun (Feb. 19) regarding Cecil County's tier map and the Comprehensive Plan on which it is supposedly based. Rather than being solely about protecting private property rights, the 2010 Comprehensive Plan states that they should be balanced with the need to manage growth. The 41 individuals on the review committee crafted a plan that reflected their diversity of opinions and put equal, if not more, emphasis on conserving agricultural and forested lands and on keeping our rural areas rural. The tier map adopted by the county in 2012 and recently endorsed by the decidedly un-diverse Tier Map Advisory Committee makes a mockery of our Comprehensive Plan and its commitments to conservation and rural character. Executive McCarthy seeks to be “aligned with state law,” but seems ready to ignore the law when he disagrees with what it tells him to do. The intent of the Sustainable Growth and Agricultural Preservation Act of 2012 is clear from its title. An interpretation was presented to the Tier Map Advisory Committee as Tier Map No. 11 (Whig March 9, 2017). This map came closer to the legal requirements than anything since Tier Map No. 4 from August 2012. Rather than be insulted by the state’s approach to land use planning, we are insulted that our county executive should so comprehensively ignore our own plan. Jill E. Burke is the president of the Cecil Land Use Association.

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May 15, 2017

In Memoriam: ESLC Co-Founder and Community Leader Sandy Hoon

Alexander H. Hoon (Sandy) passed away from natural causes on May 14, 2017 at Heron Point, Chestertown, MD. Sandy was born in Pittsburgh, PA on December 1, 1928 to Marian Holliday Hoon and Dr. Merle Russell Hoon. Sandy was married to Ann Wilmer Hoon on March 17, 1951 in Chestertown, MD. He was the son-in-law of Isabel Perry Wilmer and Chestertown Mayor Philip G. Wilmer. Sandy was predeceased by Ann in August, 2016, and their third son David McGill Hoon who died in June, 2011. He is survived by two other sons: Dr. Alexander Holliday Hoon, Jr. (Cindy) who resides in Ellicott City, MD; and Philip W. Hoon, Esq. (Lisa) who resides in Chestertown; as well as 7 grandchildren, 3 daughters-in-law and one great grandchild. Sandy’s sisters Margaret Hoon Baker (Larry, dec’d) and Nancy Hoon Powell (Bill) survive him, as does his very dear friend/cousin Richard Carter Holliday. Sandy attended Shady Side Academy (Pittsburgh) and graduated from Williams College in 1950. He served in the United States Marine Corps and was stationed as a First Lieutenant in Korea on April 1, 1951. He was on active duty until January, 1953. Sandy began his successful career with Jones & Laughlin Steel Corporation in 1952. He retired as a J&L executive in Pittsburgh in 1979. While there he enjoyed Oakmont Country Club, the Duquesne Club and Fox Chapel Country Club. Ann and Sandy moved to Chestertown in 1979 and restored their family home “Thornton”. They lived there for 25 years and then moved to Heron Point in Chestertown. During that period, Sandy was the founder and principal of Chesapeake Land Company, and also managed family farms. In the 1980’s Sandy was a co-founder of the Eastern Shore Land Conservancy and served as a Director for many years. He was also a co-founder of the

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March 17, 2017

Climate Change Conference to be Held in Easton, April 1st

EASTON – The Eastern Shore is the third most susceptible region to the effects of sea level rise in the country. The Eastern Shore Land Conservancy (ESLC), a progressive, environmentally-focused nonprofit organization headquartered in Easton, will host the half-day conference, Unsinkable Eastern Shore II: Rural America Responds to Climate Change, on Saturday, April 1st from 9am to 1pm. The event will be held at the Eastern Shore Conservation Center – the former McCord laundry facility which ESLC rehabilitated and has since occupied with several other conservation groups since 2015. The event is $20 to attend and includes breakfast, two panel discussions, and presentations by two keynote speakers. Also included with admission is a copy of speaker John Englander’s book High Tide on Main Street, which Politico Magazine called “one of the 50 most important books to read in 2016.” Attendees may register online but are encouraged to do so soon, as seating is limited. The conference will be hosted by ESLC’s Coastal Resilience Manager, Brian Ambrette, who has been working with town and county government on the Mid and Upper Shore for more than two years, helping to bring awareness about the effects of climate change – most notably, sea level rise – as well as working to help implement sound planning in the form of mitigation strategies and town/county comprehensive plans. “I hope our audience will learn how their communities and their neighbors are embracing change as an opportunity to innovate and make the systems we rely on stronger and greener”, notes Ambrette. “I am excited about the new ideas that our keynote speakers will inject into the conversation.” While the conference panels boast a mix of knowledgeable educators and emergency management professionals, the inclusion of oceanographer, author, and consultant John Englander is perhaps the most impressive addition to the conference. As a leading

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Eastern Shore Land Conservancy Tag

Kent County Middle School students complete Chesapeake Bay Watershed project

460 Acres in Cecil County Preserved; Will Become Bohemia River State Park

Executive McCarthy ignores county plan

In Memoriam: ESLC Co-Founder and Community Leader Sandy Hoon

Climate Change Conference to be Held in Easton, April 1st

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